Six hour boat ride down Lake Kivu

I have received a few emails questioning our safety. I must say, that in the way we have been traveling and lodging behind razor wire lined walls we have not had an inkling of concern for our safety.  There are UN trucks that drive by filled with dozens of armed personnel. There are also numerous Congolese army (FRDC) personnel walking the street, and tons of armed police. Automatic weapons are within any glance. Our instructions are to not point any cameras at FRDC. Others are fair game.  We have been sneaking a few shots with cell phones, but otherwise have been cautious. There was some bloodshed yesterday but it was 100 km North of us. 

Other than that is the active volcano that glows red at night.  10 years ago it covered the city, but while it worries me, it doesn't seem to bother the locals.

This morning we had to get up at 5am and get to the Port of Goma to board a boat to Bukavu. This port is not like any I have seen before. First, it is on a lake. A huge lake. But the port looks built through necessity and not design. The boarding was as Chaotic as one could imagine. There we people crowding to get on a metal gangway no bigger than something you would use to get a motorcycle on a pick up truck. There we're police and other personal that apparently with random selectivity would let some people go on and others not. One guy with a 50-100 lbs bag of flour on his head forced his way through. He had white powder all over his face neck and shoulders. A police officer grabbed him and pulled him off the gangway and they started yelling at each other. Two different officers reviewed our passports. The 2nd guy said the other guy did it all wrong. I got pushed on ahead of Claude, our right hand man who was assigned to us and has been a wonderful local asset. We boarded on the 3rd class level which is standing room and little organization. It was actually more like a cargo hold than a passenger area.   The tickets for this 6 hour ride in 3rd class were $10. 2nd class, above were $15 and had seats more like you would expect. Then 1st class was $25 and had couches and food and drinks included. We opted to "splurge."  When we were pulling out of port a few soda peddlers were selling too late in the departure and fell in the water and swam back to the dock. There was a lot of commotion. 

A hour or so in to our boat ride I noticed the boat had stopped. Turns out that we came upon a stranded ship that was out of gas. If our third class was like cargo, this ship was 4th class. There were people everywhere  including the roof and the bow was filled with produce, rice, water jugs and even a couple of turkeys. Our captain gave them some gas and we were on our way.

Our Visas and permits allowed us to film in Goma, but outside we are not to film. Our interview in Bukavu is fine because it will be in a private hospital. We have been told to say we are missionaries so we don't get questioned.  On board the boat I noticed some FRDC on some couches behind us.  Claude told me they were high level to be riding in 1st class. We have wanted to interview some FDRC, but that has been off limits. Claude told me they get to ride free but don't get the food and drink service. Part of the issue here is that the military is not paid. So I thought at first I would offer them our Cokes and Bread. They accepted and were grateful. Then an hour later I had Claude ask them in Swahili if they would be willing to do an interview with us. My thoughts were that we were out away from everything, we made a pease offering and then they could say yes or no. Turns out they said "yes." They are actually major status and here that is a very high ranking. 

We got a GREAT impromptu interview on the bow of the boat. They spoke of the power of the FDRC and Congo is safe and all thanks goes to the Congolese president. We had Claude wired up on a mic for the translation so after the interview, Claude was talking them and they became a lot less political and told him some real stories. We continued to roll on it without their knowing and got some amazing insight. They were actually very appreciative to be heard. However, they did ask for some money. Turns out we could only give about $3 each or their superior (the General) would question how they Got so much money

Arriving to Bukavu we were picked up by the regional manager of DHL, the air freight company. That turned out to be very helpful because the local police were not able to go through our bags because in his car, it was considered "Parcels" and they were not allowed to be searched. We arrived at our hotel (very nice), had a nice dinner and are going to bed early. We have the interview tomorrow with the prominent Congo figure.

I have to take a second and thank everyone for viewing this blog. I never expected it to get to nearly 1000 views as it is right now. That is CRAZY!  Please feel free to comment. I would love to hear from all of you. 

Much love from Congo. (I still can't believe I am in Africa)